Red-clad oil workers rallied in Venezuela on Wednesday to denounce "imperialist" US sanctions imposed for ties with Iran but the anger seemed unlikely to jeopardise a huge energy trade with the United States. Venezuelan officials from President Hugo Chavez down criticised the moves against state oil company PDVSA, announced by the US government on Tuesday as punishment for shipments to Iran of an oil blending component worth $50 million.
"This is a new aggression by the empire against Venezuela. We are rallying to show Chavez is not alone," said worker Amilda Yanez, dressed in the red of Chavez's ruling Socialist Party, during a protests at PDVSA's headquarters in Caracas.
Thousands took part in similar rallies across the OPEC-member nation. Out of the public eye due to a knee injury, Chavez popped up on Twitter to condemn the "new gringo aggression." His energy minister, Rafael Ramirez, likened the sanctions with US pressure on Iran over its nuclear policy and the NATO airstrikes to topple Libya's Muammar Qadhafi.
Beyond such rhetoric, however, pragmatism probably will again prevail on both sides, analysts say. President Barack Obama's government wanted to send a firm signal to Venezuela, while avoiding further upset to oil prices or a cutoff in supplies from one of its top five suppliers.
So Tuesday's sanctions, while showing disapproval of Chavez's ties with Tehran, were relatively soft in practice. They bar PDVSA - but, crucially, not its US-based CITGO subsidiary - from US contracts and financing. Oil sales are not affected. "This was just a rap on the knuckles," analyst Angel Garcia Banchs said. "In practice, the company is not affected."